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What's the song of summer? We crunch the numbers

Music may be more fractured than ever, but some songs play everywhere during the summer. Brian Mansfield breaks down the numbers of four top contenders and picks a winner in the competition for song of summer.

Music may be more fractured than ever, but some songs play everywhere during the summer — poolside, online, in the clubs, at parties and on the radio, in multiple formats. "The summer song seems to be one of those final shared experiences," says Sean Ross, author of the Ross on Radio industry newsletter. "It's one of those times people think about the music they're hearing." For USA TODAY, Brian Mansfield breaks down the numbers of four top contenders and picks a winner in the competition for the song of summer.

Thicke's crossover smash has far outsold the other singles since Memorial Day and hasn't yet peaked at radio. "Blurred Lines is one of those infectious grooves that always work better in the summertime," says Will Mills, vice president of music and content at Shazam, an app that "tags" a song every time you hold up a smartphone to figure out what you're listening to. "A resurgent Pharrell Williams has concocted a fantastic production that does so much with so little and is soaked in summertime sauciness. Add a killer hook, plus a notorious video, and it equals summer smash."

Thomas Bangalter, left, and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk have found radio success with 'Get Lucky.'(Photo: Matt Sayles, Invision, via AP)

French duo Daft Punk built its following outside radio, but this disco-era throwback made for irresistible programming. "The anticipation for Daft Punk was so big because they haven't put out anything in a long time," says Michael Martin, vice president of top 40 programming for CBS Radio. "It debuted at many different genres. Here in San Francisco, I'm playing it on my top 40, I'm playing it on my hot AC, and I'm playing it on my alternative station."

Tyler Hubbard, left, and Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line got a boost when Nelly remixed their song 'Cruise.'(Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY)

Cruise, Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly

YouTube: 29 million views, plus 9.6 million for the video with NellyNielsen SoundScan: 870,000 combined downloads for the original and the remixTwitter: 152,000 mentionsShazam: 614,000 tagsAirplay: 154,000 spins

Cruise topped the country chart in 2012, then rapper Nelly remixed it and gave it new life. "It's an example of how anything that is not obviously a superstar record often needs some sort of pre-sell, whether it's a YouTube phenomenon or being played for a year at another format," Ross says. Cruise also benefited from the burgeoning young country audience. "Twelve- to 24-year-olds knew about this record whether they listened to country radio or not."

Can't Hold Us peaked on radio just after Memorial Day, so it was already a familiar song but still has a huge presence. "Can't Hold Us has the Party Rock Anthem, give-me-everything, party-out-of-bounds aspect to it, which was not only an obligatory part of summer songs a few years ago, but a big part of hit records all year long," Ross says. "In that regard, it's also geared thematically to summer parties."